Dhaka, Sep 17 (V7N) – After nearly three hours, polytechnic students lifted their blockade at the Satrasta intersection in Tejgaon around 2 pm on Wednesday.

Before leaving, student representative Mashfiq Islam Dewan announced a fresh program: a nationwide sit-in at all polytechnic campuses and key intersections on Thursday, September 18. He warned that diploma students would not accept “any conspiracy regarding the 10th grade” and threatened stricter programs if their demands were ignored.

The protests, which began in the morning, brought traffic to a standstill in Tejgaon and caused severe congestion across the capital, leaving commuters and office-goers stranded.

Students staged the blockade to press their 7-point demand, which includes:

  • Increasing the promotion rate from deputy assistant engineer to assistant engineer,

  • Ensuring proportional recruitment of B.Sc. and diploma engineers in government and autonomous institutions,

  • Cancelling the 30% promotion quota for craft instructors to junior instructor posts,

  • Cancelling the 2021 recruitment of craft instructors,

  • Amending recruitment rules, and

  • Revising the job title of craft instructors.

Protests are not confined to Dhaka alone. On Wednesday, polytechnic students also blocked roads in Gazipur and staged demonstrations on roads and railways in Dinajpur.

The movement has been gaining momentum for the past several days, with students vowing to continue until their demands are fulfilled.

END/SMA/AJ